Image: https://mountaintrue.org/
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has partnered with nonprofit conservation organization MountainTrue to focus on cleaning up rivers after Hurricane Helene.
The River Debris Cleanup Program will include $10 million in state funding provided by the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management, according to a press release from Monday.
MountainTrue executive director Bob Wagner said in the group’s announcement that the partnership is more than a cleanup.
“It’s a recovery effort grounded in our core values: clean water, healthy ecosystems, and resilient communities,” Wagner wrote.
Federal aid helped with addressing major rivers and large debris after the storm, while MountainTrue will focus on smaller streams and tributaries that are left clogged with trash, broken infrastructure, and storm debris, according to the announcement.
The program will deploy paid cleanup crews across western North Carolina to remove debris from rivers and streams for the next 18 months. It will also communicate with landowners to access and restore hard-to-reach areas.
During the program’s pilot phase, MountainTrue staff and volunteers have already removed about 3 million pounds of debris, Wagner wrote.
With funding from the state, MountainTrue will clean more than 150 miles of river throughout the region. The organization currently has volunteer operations established on the French Broad, Green, Broad, and Watauga Rivers, and will work towards expanding in other areas.
“We’re committed to helping western North Carolina recover and rebuild, and this investment will help clean up debris still left in our rivers,” said Reid Wilson, Secretary of the NC Department of Environmental Quality. “This initiative represents a critical opportunity to restore our waterways, protect our communities and support local economies dependent on outdoor recreation and tourism.”
The program will focus on counties including Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, Yancey, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.